Baseball
Buckeyes Come Back Home for Comeback Win over Xavier
By John PorentasThe No. 18 Buckeyes had a successful home opener to begin their 13th season of play at Bill Davis Stadium, coming from behind to defeat instate rival Xavier by a score of 9-7.
The win followed what is becoming a familiar script for the Buckeyes. They got a big hit in the late innings to come from behind for the win. This time around it was designated hitter Ryan Dew who delivered a two-out double to right field in the seventh inning to drive in two runs and give OSU it's first lead of the game.
Xavier took advantage of OSU freshman starter Ryan Oltorik's inability to find the strike zone in the first inning. Oltorik walked the first two hitters he faced, then gave up an RBI single followed by a double to drive in two more runs. Oltorik promptly issued another walk on a play on which the runner at second advanced to third on a past ball. A fly ball drove in the fourth run of the inning. Oltorik then settled down and retired the side. After the rocky start he posted three-consecutive 1-2-3 innings.
"It was good to see Ross settle down, but we got behind by four. That's a big hole to crawl out of," said OSU Head Coach Bob Todd.
"He started to get more consistent with his fastball and then he did find a second pitch. Really it was his changeup," Todd said.
Oltorik's fifth inning included a hit batsman and a walk before giving way to reliever Dean Wolosianski. Wolosianski promptly balked to score another run for Xavier. A ground out and a fly ball then plated another run as Xavier put two runs on the board in the inning without the aid of a hit.
"Going into the game the only way that I felt Xavier had a chance to beat us was the way we were getting beat, that is we were walking people, hitting people, then they were coming through with a couple of base hits," said Todd.
"I looked up there one time and they had six runs on two hits and we hadn't made an error. That's the classic way to get beat. If we threw strikes and made them beat us with their bats I felt like we were going to be OK," said Todd.
OSU began chipping away at the lead in the third inning when center fielder Mike Stevens powered his sixth homerun of the season over the left field fence with a runner about to break the scoring ice for the Buckeyes. Stevens, a junior college transfer from California, was thrilled to have gotten a big hit in his first appearance in Bill Davis stadium.
"It felt awesome. I saw the pitch up and just drove it," said Stevens.
OSU added a run in the fourth and two more in the sixth to pull to within one run at 6-5. Xavier added another run in the seventh to go up 7-5 before Dew put the Buckeyes ahead to stay. Left fielder Zach Hurley led off OSU's eight with his fourth homerun of the season to add an insurance run for the Buckeyes. OSU closer Jake Hale came on to pitch two scoreless inning to preserve the win.
The win raised OSU's season record to 21-4, their best start since 1991 when they also opened the season 21-4. In doing so they tied the OSU record for wins in the first 25 games of the season. Their signature win thus far this year came in the last game of their spring trip to Florida when the defeated No. 6 Miami of Florida 7-1 at Miami.
The hot start has earned the Buckeyes rankings in four polls; No. 18 by Collegiate Baseball, No. 22 by USA Today Coaches Poll, No. 24 by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and No. 26 by Ping! Baseball.
Game Notes:
* Armstrong Out: The Buckeyes have gotten solid starting pitching from Dean Wimmers and excellent short relief work from Jake Hale and Drew Rucinski. All three of those hurlers have an ERA under 3.00. After that, however, there is no one on the staff under 5.00. OSU's pitching staff is thin, and according to Todd, took a hit this week when starter Andrew Armstrong was shelved.
"We just found out that Armstrong has a little bit of tendonitis in his shoulder," said Todd.
"Rather than pushing it we're probably going to shut him down for about 10 or 12 days and see if we can't get him back by the end of the year."
That leaves the Buckeyes looking for a third starter on the weekends. For now, former setup man Eric Best will move into the rotation as he did last weekend against Penn State.
* Todd on Hand: Former OSU starting quarterback Todd Boeckman was on hand for OSU's home opener against Xavier. Boeckman's cousin Corey Luebke was a standout left handed pitcher for OSU and Boeckman was often seen in the stands when Luebke pitched. Now he comes to see his roommate play, OSU starting right fielder Mike Arp. Arp went one for four and made two very good running catches in the Xavier game.
Return to the-OZone Front Page
(c) 2009 The O-Zone, O-Zone
Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, rebroadcast,rewritten, or redistributed.